Stay Informed With HeatingSave | Page 18

On Wednesday oil prices neared an eight-month high after European ministers agreed in principle to an Iranian oil import ban. Brent crude almost went up to the $114 per barrel mark as markets reacted to news of the impending ban.

The Mayor of London’s new energy efficiency programme aims to install energy and water efficiency measures in homes across the capital.

As we told you on this site in August, nobody in the northern hemisphere is using heating oil in summer, so it was not surprising the price of oil slumped to below $100 a barrel last week amid fears of a world trade slowdown and low demand. However, yesterday saw the biggest one-day jump in the price of oil, going up by over $16 to finish at more than $120 a barrel, the biggest one-day jump ever recorded.

Scottish Power and Npower  have followed the other utility companies with massive price rises in gas and electricity, with gas up by around 34% and 26 %  respectively and electricity by 9% and 14%. All price rises are effective as of this week and neither firm has ruled out further price increases citing increased wholesale prices as the reason for the large increases. 

Crude oil prices were on the rise again yesterday, trading above $100 a barrel. Prices had dropped significantly after the summer peak of $147. It is thought that the slowdown in global economic activity and the increased output from countries like Saudi Arabia had been the main reasons for the decline; coupled with low demand during the summer months for heating oil.

Gas and electricity prices in Britain have climbed twice as fast as the European Union average, according to new figures released on Wednesday. Gas and electricity rose by 29.7% in the past year, compared with a 15% increase for the EU. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics showed that German customers experienced a 12.2 percent price increase while their French counterparts saw their energy bills shoot up by 14 percent.

Owners of British Gas, Centrica, have posted profits of £5m a day but despite this raised gas prices by 35% on Wednesday. Age Concern has warned that many pensioners will be unable to pay their winter fuel bills. As gas and oil production in the North Sea falls and the world wholesale prices continually rise, it will difficult for many hard-pressed consumers to save on their heating bills just by shopping around for the best supplier.

The increased cost in home heating recently as EDF Energy and British Gas put up their prices has not been equal across the UK, with some areas seeing bigger increases than others. Both companies claim that costs such as transportation have increased dramatically and in some cases now accounts for around 14% of the average central heating fuel bill.

Official government figures show almost 3 million vulnerable households have fallen into lnerable households have fallen into “fuel poverty” in 2006, showing an increase of  700,000 over the 2005 statistics. Fuel poverty is defined as households who spend more than 10% of their income on fuel.  

Centrica, the UK”s biggest supplier of domestic energy has said that they expect the average price of home gas bills to go up from an average last year of £600 per household to over £1,000 this year. They say that gas prices are linked to the price of oil and that is the reason for increases.

As from 1st September 2009 the manufacture and import of 100 watt and all frosted finished incandescent light bulbs will be banned in the EU as part of Europe”s bid to cut energy costs. The 100 watt light bulbs will be replaced by the energy-saving fluorescent variety. These are the compact fluorescent lamps commonly found in supermarkets. They use 80% less electricity than incandescent bulbs and last longer. The new rules will be extended to 75 watt bulbs from September 2010 and 60 watt bulbs from 2011.

The HeatingSave House and Home system for domestic dwellings has obtained Government approval from DEFRA via the Carbon Trust. The prestigious Energy Technology List of approved products registers energy saving products that have been scientifically tested and proven to save energy and reduce CO2 emissions.